baby (non-)sleep - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

Ol'Line Rebel · 07-30-2008, 05:26 PM

Hi all, I have troubles with my 4-mo old baby sleeping. Or rather, not.

As I'm sure you've seen me post sometimes, he basically does not sleep "through the night" - rarely. Even by definition of "5 hours straight".

Usually, in fact, his total for a "night" is about 6, broken in the middle by a waking for maybe an hour, more or less.

Often during the day his napping is totally erratic. He'll sleep much some days, and hardly at all others (or so it seems). In any case, it's often broken up also into small naps. Usually 1 can count on him napping a "long" nap around lunch time, but that is a huge window I'm talking about, like 3 hours in which he might start.

He seems to be averaging a total of 10-11 hrs a day, usually very broken up.

Anyone know if this is that bad, and if there's anything to do for it? He seems as if he must not be sleeping enough. He's a very "nice" baby, so I don't have evidence he is truly tired, but I suspect he just is and is so pleasant that he doesn't usually have an "attitude" along with it.

JenW67 · 08-01-2008, 06:32 AM

Hey Rebel,

Are you sure that you and I don't have the same baby?

I have a 4.5 month old who sleeps much like your baby. He went for his 4 month check up last week and I was all prepared for the doc. to tell me that I could let him cry at night for a few nights to get him on a sleep pattern. ( We did this with my older son at this age and it worked like a charm.) Lo and behold, the pediatrician told me that it is normal for some kids to still need to eat once or twice at night

He is a little on the skinny side (25th %ile) and is very tall so he is growing a lot.

It is a bummer and I am so tired I can barely see straight. I have been on maternity leave since he was born but go back to work in 3 weeks. I don't know how I am going to function. I am a high school teacher and I am afraid my students are going to eat me alive.

Sorry I don't have any solutions; just tales of someone in the same situation.

-Jen

Ol'Line Rebel · 08-01-2008, 07:15 PM

Hi, thanks Jen. I do plan on the Ferber method (and basically my ped recommended it, besides), but I've been waiting for a "clear" schedule. Had thought this weekend, but my husband works tomorrow morning, so I can't count on him as it'll be like a normal weekday/night. Next weekend, looks like.

Anyway, my son is not small - he's been in 95% weight as well as off the charts tall, so we don't think he's truly hungry. In fact, I've been "weaning" him off the night feeding - in fact, tonight will be "fewer than 5 min" to eat, then none after that. I don't think he should be hungry, anyway, since he hardly sleeps at night and only usually has 1 waking. It's not the same as someone saying he still wakes once - but in the middle of a 10-hr sleep! Mine is at best 6 hrs.

I don't even have to work - I quit - but still, I would love to have solid sleep! It's starting to affect my brain, I can tell. Last week at the store, even alone without my son (gramma was caring for him), I started having those weird feelings in my head and sometimes I would lose balance or stumble around or whatever - not simply from sleepiness, but as if something isn't connected in the brain. Hard to describe, but it's like something's really wrong.

And I just hate getting up to crying in the night! It's so depressing and lonely and a little scary!

JenW67 · 08-02-2008, 06:54 AM

I started having those weird feelings in my head and sometimes I would lose balance or stumble around or whatever - not simply from sleepiness, but as if something isn't connected in the brain. Hard to describe, but it's like something's really wrong.

And I just hate getting up to crying in the night! It's so depressing and lonely and a little scary![/QUOTE]

Oh Rebel,

I feel like I am on drugs most of the time. I ran over the stroller the other day; thank god the baby wasn't in it!

I have a headache every day and I am drinking too much coffee.

Good luck with the CIO method. In our house we say, "Dr. Ferber is coming to visit tonight!"

-Jen

Sillygirl554 · 08-02-2008, 10:24 PM

The best thing that my hsband and I found that worked for us was a night time routine. Every night around the same time we give our daughter a bath, rub her down with Johnson and Johnson night time bath, put on her jammies, read her a book and feed her a bottle, when she is done with her bottle we lay her down in her crib and she falls asleep. WE starting doing this when she was 3 months old, it took about 3 weeks and then our daughter finally realized that when we did all of these things that it meant it was bed time and she no longer fussed. She has been sleeping from 8pm to 6:30am everynight from about 4 months.

So my advice is to pick a routine that works for you and stick to it, you baby will eventually figure it out.

Good Luck